annoyedEgl banned all replicas, demonized Oo Jia for selling a girl what was listed as a real Angelic Pretty dress, turns out it was one of their replicas... Which, side note, if you're buying from Oo Jia, come on now, you know damn well your ass is getting a replica. Noob or not, you should know better and I have no sympathy for idiots not doing their due diligence. That is your right and duty as (What is supposed to be) an educated consumer. But getting back, but now Oo Jia says that they are no longer doing replicas and everyone has pretty much gone off the deep end of the pond.
Ok, let's address one issue at a time.
First, the replica issue: Ok... About a year or two ago, I did a tea party in Philly at XIX and one of the girls who went was a fashion major and had a lot of experience with laws about fashion and she informed all of us that fashion can't be copy written because it is a form of art and subjected to interpretation. How true or not this is I don't know, but my wedding gown is a replica of an Eve of Milady wedding gown and I saw on Say Yes To the Dress once a girl was going to buy a replica of a Pnina Tornai dress, but when Pnina found out about it, she gave her the real dress and not the knock off. So there may be some truth to her statement.
Which I know some of you are probably thinking at this point, "Well they are Japanese companies, so they aren't subjected to American laws." And I say to you, "My point exactly!" Buying from a Chinese dress company and shipping to anywhere but Japan should be a non-issue for a Japanese company, so why are their noses all up in it?
Second the EGL issue: Well I guess it is within their rights to ban who or whatever they want, for whatever reasons they see fit, but personally, I think it is kinda stupid. I mean, what do they care if someone posts a review about a replica or even sells them on the sales community? The moderators personally don't profit from any of it (unless they are selling stuff themselves); none of the money that exchanges hands never goes to any of the moderators or to the community, so it's not like they can be sued because they aren't profiting from the sale, so, like what the hell? Why put a perma-ban in place when you are not the problem. It's an open community and people should be able to post what they like or what to read about, even if you don't want to hear about it or particularly like it. Remember, free speech doesn't protect what you want to hear, it protects what you don't want to hear. But why get scared because a company contacted you? They have no basis for legal action, so why get your bloomers in a bunch? I don't understand what EGL's stake in all this really is.
Third, the Oo Jia issue: Personally, I don't care one way or the other about replicas. Buy them or not, who cares! Once again, it's just clothes. And once again Lolita is sub-genera of fashion that most people either don't know or don't care about. And "blah-blah-blah, the companies are producing this stuff and they should be compensated for all their hard work." Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard this endless argument with anime and the fansubs vs. legal anime bit and, for me, that dog still don't hunt.
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Also, let's stop dicking around and make Lolita more affordable. I mean come on, this shit is mass produced, so its not like it's custom tailor job (much like the Oo Jia outfits are), I would give you some play if they took the time to measure you and custom make something for you. So if it is not a custom job then what is the justification for the expense of a mass produced garment? The name? Yes, true a name can be synonymous with quality or luxury, but really, at the end of the day, who cares! The prints? Again, who cares! Most prints have that company's name plastered all over it, so pretty much you are an unpaid, living breathing advertisement for their company. The quality of brand Lolita? A valid argument, but still, I doubt very sincerely that that dress cost $300 dollars to make. You give me a rational justification of why Baby, Mary Magdalene, and AP cost so much and may entertain it, but for now, there is no good justification for the expense.
So I call bull shit on this whole situation! The business major in me is like, look, if you did the right thing by your customer and fans you wouldn't have this problem. Sure, there are always, and I don't care how much you whine and complain, but there will always be copies of things; be it anime, video games, handbags, or Lolita clothes. But if you want to keep your slice of the pie, then do your customers around the world a solid and make your shit affordable and wearable for ALL people, not just your people. You can still be profitable and ethical, you don't have to be a nationalistic douche bag about it. If they had their shit straight from the door they wouldn't have as bad of a problem now and I don't feel sorry for them in the least. I do feel sorry for Oo Jia, who is just providing an equally, if not more profitable solution, but is being demonized for it.
